While speaking to reporters in Ottawa in July 2017, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is joined by Deputy Leader of the Opposition Lisa Raitt, Conservative MP Alain Rayes, House Leader of the Opposition Candice Bergen, Chief Opposition Whip Mark Strahl and Deputy House Leader of the Opposition Chris Warkentin. (Matthew Usherwood)

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Good morning, readers.

It looks like Conservative MP Derek Sloan won’t apologize.

As the Canadian Press reports, the party leadership contestant refused Wednesday to heed the demands of his fellow MPs to apologize for remarks questioning the loyalty of the country’s chief public health officer.

A motion had been put forward by other Conservative MPs from Ontario during a meeting Tuesday afternoon demanding he apologize or retract his comments. If not, some MPs are prepared to try and get him kicked out of caucus.

On Wednesday evening, Sloan issued a statement suggesting his remarks about Dr. Theresa Tam had been “deliberately” mischaracterized by the Liberals.

“I did not — and am not — questioning Dr. Tam’s loyalty to Canada,” he said.

He drew attention last week when he criticized Tam’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, citing her work for and reliance upon data from the World Health Organization. Sloan had asked whether Tam was working for “China or Canada.”

Meanwhile, the Conservative Party said Wednesday night that its leadership election can resume immediately “with adjustments to accommodate current circumstances.”

All campaigns can now resume activity, while the May 15 party membership deadline remains.

Ballots need to be received by Aug. 21, although the party said the date of when the new leader will be announced will depend on what health guidelines and government orders are in place in August. The party is looking to confirm the date in the coming weeks.

On Parliament Hill, federal parties fast-tracked a $9 billion package of measures to support students during a House of Commons sitting Wednesday afternoon.

The Liberal government had agreed to several opposition changes, including a request from the NDP to provide an additional $250 per month for students with dependent children and disabilities, as well as a request from the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois to include incentives for students to take available jobs, especially in the agricultural sector.

Conservative MPs on the House industry committee pressed Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau to introduce additional measures to support Canada’s hog, cattle and poultry producers, who have been financially hurting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minister Bibeau said agriculture producers have access to the general Canada Emergency Business Account, which offers up to $40,000 in interest-free loans; $5 billion in loans through Farm Credit Canada; an array of business risk management (BRM) programs like AgriInvest or AgriStability; and other “very beneficial loans” that are available for most sectors through commercial banks. However, Conservative MP John Barlow said most producers do not qualify for any of these programs, or the amounts are “woefully inadequate.”

Individual provinces might move at different paces to reopen their economies, though they have all agreed to adhere to guidelines drafted in collaboration with the federal government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.

“Every region, every province, every territory is facing a very different situation right now with different industries, different-sized cities, and different spread of COVID-19,” he told reporters.

“That’s why we needed to make sure that the foundational elements were there, that we could all follow as Canadians, but recognize that different jurisdictions will act differently.”

At the core of the guidelines are four main principles on reopening that include taking a science and evidence-based approach to decision-making, coordination and collaboration between all Canadian jurisdictions, accountability and transparency of all governments, and flexibility and proportionality to respond to changes. Vigliotti has more.

China “resolutely opposes” any international inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic that presumes its guilt, said Yue Yucheng, a vice-foreign minister, in comments published on Thursday. (Reuters)

China delivered its strongest statement of confidence yet that it has tamed the country’s coronavirus epidemic, announcing on Wednesday it would hold a much-delayed top political gathering late next month and ease quarantine restrictions in the capital. (New York Times)

Scientists on Wednesday announced the first effective treatment against the coronavirus — an experimental drug that can speed the recovery of COVID-19 patients — in a major medical advance that came as the economic gloom caused by the scourge deepened in the U.S. and Europe. (Associated Press)

Deaths from the coronavirus outbreak have piled up so fast in the Amazon rainforest’s biggest city that the main cemetery is burying five coffins at a time in collective graves. (Reuters)

India’s news publishers face a delicate balancing act as they look to offset financial losses from sinking ad sales with support from a government seeking to control the narrative on the coronavirus, sometimes by prosecuting journalists for reporting on the detrimental consequences of official pandemic policy. (AP)

The United States has caught no sight of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and is watching reports about his health, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday, adding there was a real risk of famine in the country amid the coronavirus outbreak. (Reuters)

Activists and women’s rights advocates have urged presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to address a former aide’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her in 1993. The former vice-president has yet to make a statement on the matter. (NYT)

Cartoon of the Day

Theo Moudakis cartoon

FINALLY

A town in Sweden is to dump a tonne of chicken manure in its central park in a bid to ward off residents from gathering there.

As the Guardian reports, the town of Lund is trying to deter up to 30,000 residents from gathering for traditional celebrations to mark Walpurgis Night on Thursday.